CERTITUDE is a noun meaning to be confident or convinced of something with complete assurance and freedom from doubt. Certitude is the mental and active state of the behaviour of various parts of American society this year. One act of violence by five black American police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, illustrates perfectly how certitude has divided America.
The Memphis cops stopped Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black American, driving to his mother's home. Their body cameras capture their menacing behaviour and attitude. At one point, as they roughed up Nichols, one cop says on the video: "I hope they stomp his ass. I hope they stomp his ass." They did! He died in the hospital several days later.
Is this an example of police certitude about treating anyone if they feel like it? The five have been fired from the department, charged with second-degree murder, and faced with state and federal civil rights crimes. "It is going to remind many people of Rodney King," said Ben Crump, a noted civil rights lawyer representing Nichols' family, referring to the 1991 beating by Los Angeles Police Department officers.
This reporter, one of the many covering that story, remembers it as an early viral video before the Internet, taken by a neighbour with a video camera. That tape went global on TV news reports after the Los Angeles Police Department refused to accept it. This event ignited the Los Angeles riots and crystallized the idea of the widespread adoption of body cameras for police officers in America.
The January 7 encounter begins with a traffic stop at an intersection, during which the police approach Nichols' car, yelling and threatening him with their guns raised. An officer yanks open the driver's side door and pulls Nichols out of the car as he protests that he "did not do anything". Nichols was a serious photographer, an avid skateboarder and, at age 29, unlikely to resist. He did not.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 13, 2023-Ausgabe von India Legal.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 13, 2023-Ausgabe von India Legal.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
PIL, Difficult To Swallow?
In a recent ruling, the Bombay High Court lamented the increasing number of frivolous public interest litigations being filed in courts and echoed the sentiments of the Supreme Court that such litigations are the bane of the judicial system. Is there any way to restrict their misuse?
Till Infertility Do Us Part...
The Calcutta High Court slammed a husband for initiating divorce proceedings due to his wife's infertility and asked him to be a pillar of support for her. Courts have often taken an empathetic view in such matters
IS THAT LEGAL?
Ignorance of law is no excuse. Here are answers to frequently asked queries regarding matters that affect us on a day-to-day basis
The Big Lie
In America, The Big Lie is an idiom used by Donald Trump's opponents and the media to describe his constant gripe about election fraud. Now, it seems more suited to another Republican, Congressman George Santos (right), who has been facing growing calls to resign after he admitted fabricating parts of his resume and biography since his election in New York last year.
Flying into the Sunset
Over 50 years since the first and original jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, took to the skies and revolutionized air travel, the last of the legendary aircraft (right) was delivered to a freight charter company, bringing down the curtain on one of aviation's most successful products.
Star Crossed
Actor and producer Alec Baldwin is a Hollywood legend, having starred in a range of movies, award winning TV sitcoms, and theatre. He was most recently seen in Mission Impossible Fallout, which is an apt description of his current situation.
Walkouts in the UK
An estimated half a million workers have gone on strike, shutting down thousands of schools, public transport and border disruption. It is the biggest day of industrial action for more than a decade.
Myanmar's Misery
Two years after the military coup ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the brutal crackdown by the junta on so-called \"insurgents\" and civilian protesters has reached a new level with the use of air strikes, a new and deadly tactic in the ongoing civil war.
AMERICA'S ANGST
From messy, divisive politics to a series of mass shootings, and now black officers brutally beating another black man to death as seen in bodycam videos, America's domestic convulsions are cause for serious introspection
JUSTICE LEAGUE
There are few judicial appointment procedures in the world that are completely bereft of the overarching presence of either the executive or the legislature, or both. In the end, the judge is left with all the powers vested in him/her by the constitution to uphold the rule of law, within an atmosphere of external influences
